Good Sunday morning from Seattle . . .  Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, July 26, 2024, is below. It was a relatively quiet week this past week in the online travel industry, at least until Google’s (not surprising) announcement. Enjoy.

• • Google Changes Direction Again. So much for those many sessions (including my own) at recent industry conferences regarding marketing in a post-cookie world . . . Google announced this past week that it is abandoning entirely its previously announced decision to end all use of third-party cookies. The announcement comes after multiple prior announcements by Google delaying the planned demise. So why the change?  While Google’s announcement didn’t go into great detail, previous delays by Google (particularly the most recent) have been attributed to ongoing regulatory review of Google’s planned alternative – the Privacy Sandbox – by both privacy and competition regulators.  So, what is next? Again, the announcement did not go into great detail, except to say that users will soon have a choice regarding their web browsing practices. Google’s proposed alternatives are now under review by regulators.
  • Booking.com Found to Have Unlawfully Scraped Airline Website. In a unanimous decision out of a Delaware federal court this past week, a jury found that Booking.com unlawfully scraped data from travel supplier (and sometimes instigator) Ryanair. Booking.com’s activities were found to violate the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. While the damages awarded to Ryanair were nominal ($5,000), the decision should provide a basis for Ryanair (and possibly other travel suppliers) to pursue injunctive relief against future similar behavior. Booking.com plans to appeal the decision.

Have a great week.